Local government reform

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The Queensland Government is on a journey to reform the local government sector.

These reforms will strengthen the transparency, accountability and integrity of local government in Queensland. The government is committed to supporting local government and ensuring that public confidence and accountability is restored.

Key changes include:

A uniform mandatory Code of Conduct for Councillors in Queensland

Model meeting procedures for meeting behaviour

Amendment of the publicly available councillor conduct register

Creation of the Office of the Independent Assessor

New annual report requirements.

The Queensland Government is committed to ensuring councils are aware of these changes and their impacts.

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct for Councillors in Queensland (PDF, 150KB) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of councillors and mayors when carrying out their roles, responsibilities and obligations as elected representatives for their communities.

Introducing a new uniform Code of Conduct will assist in efficiently making all councillors aware of their obligations around the three ‘R’s – responsibilities, respect and reputation.

The three ‘R’s ensure:

that councillors carry out RESPONSIBILITIES conscientiously and in the best interests of the council and the community

they treat people in a reasonable, just, RESPECTFUL and non-discriminatory way

their conduct does not reflect adversely on the REPUTATION of the council.

The Code of Conduct for councillors is backed by tougher penalties for those who breach the code, including complaints that fall into corrupt conduct, misconduct, inappropriate conduct and a new category of unsuitable meeting conduct.

All councillors must declare that they will abide by this Code of Conduct when they are elected and will apply to all councils, except Brisbane City Council which has a separate Code.

Local Government Legislation Amendments training

Legislation Amendments training was developed and delivered to ensure all councillors were ready to comply with the Code of Conduct and other legislative reforms when they came into effect in December.

If you are a councillor who wishes to undertake face-to-face training, please contact your regional advisor.

Office of the Independent Assessor

The Independent Assessor and the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) will assess and investigate councillor conduct complaints.

The Independent Assessor also:

provides advice, training and information about dealing with alleged or suspected inappropriate conduct, misconduct or corrupt conduct to councillors, local government employees and the public

prosecutes misconduct offences via the Councillor Conduct Tribunal.

Previously, complaints about councillor conduct were assessed by the chief executive of the Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs, or the council’s CEO.

Further information about the Office of the Independent Assessor can be found here.